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Rain Partier

Like, OMG, have you heard what Rich Johnston is saying about John Romita Jr.?! In totes scandalous news, Bleeding Cool is reporting that DC has offered JR Jr. the opportunity to write and draw Superman in an attempt to lure the lifelong Marvel artist over to their camp. DC has shown that it has absolutely no problem producing a really crappy book about a top tier character simply to bribe popular artists. Just look at David Finch'sBatman: The Dark Knight, the worst Batman book in living memory, or anything Tony Daniel writes. Or Rob Liefeld. Jesus.

If Johnston is correct, and let's face it, he probably is, then they could be in for the coup of the decade... if that decade were the 1990s. What DC doesn't understand is that people don't buy comics for artists anymore. They buy them for the writers, which DC seems to drive away in droves. Maybe DC thinks that artists who apparently have no business writing in the first place will be less likely to walk off a book when assaulted with neverending editorial interference.

It's an interesting strategy, and we'll have to see how it plays out. If Romita really is willing to jump ship from Marvel, I'd be interested in learning what they did to make Romita so willing to jump ship. I mean, it's not like we're talking about Superman from 30 years ago here, when it might have actually meant something to write and draw him. Superman and Batman are like the town bicycle at this point.

Rain Partier

Like, OMG, have you heard what Rich Johnston is saying about John Romita Jr.?! In totes scandalous news, Bleeding Cool is reporting that DC has offered JR Jr. the opportunity to write and draw Superman in an attempt to lure the lifelong Marvel artist over to their camp. DC has shown that it has absolutely no problem producing a really crappy book about a top tier character simply to bribe popular artists. Just look at David Finch'sBatman: The Dark Knight, the worst Batman book in living memory, or anything Tony Daniel writes. Or Rob Liefeld. Jesus.

If Johnston is correct, and let's face it, he probably is, then they could be in for the coup of the decade... if that decade were the 1990s. What DC doesn't understand is that people don't buy comics for artists anymore. They buy them for the writers, which DC seems to drive away in droves. Maybe DC thinks that artists who apparently have no business writing in the first place will be less likely to walk off a book when assaulted with neverending editorial interference.

It's an interesting strategy, and we'll have to see how it plays out. If Romita really is willing to jump ship from Marvel, I'd be interested in learning what they did to make Romita so willing to jump ship. I mean, it's not like we're talking about Superman from 30 years ago here, when it might have actually meant something to write and draw him. Superman and Batman are like the town bicycle at this point.

Wrasslin' Fan

LOLtron wrote:If Johnston is correct, and let's face it, he probably is, then they could be in for the coup of the decade... if that decade were the 1990s. What DC doesn't understand is that people don't buy comics for artists anymore. They buy them for the writers, which DC seems to drive away in droves. Maybe DC thinks that artists who apparently have no business writing in the first place will be less likely to walk off a book when assaulted with neverending editorial interference.

This would be part of the problem that DC has right now. There seems to be a certain segment of their management that don't realize that the 90s, while financially a success for the comics industry, was in a lot of ways, a failure artistically. I can't say it was a total failure artistically, because that would dismiss things like Sandman. They seem to have completely forgotten that a lot of the things that happened in that decade lead to the financial collapse of the industry and they seem to want to go right back down the same road.

Wrasslin' Fan

LOLtron wrote:If Johnston is correct, and let's face it, he probably is, then they could be in for the coup of the decade... if that decade were the 1990s. What DC doesn't understand is that people don't buy comics for artists anymore. They buy them for the writers, which DC seems to drive away in droves. Maybe DC thinks that artists who apparently have no business writing in the first place will be less likely to walk off a book when assaulted with neverending editorial interference.

This would be part of the problem that DC has right now. There seems to be a certain segment of their management that don't realize that the 90s, while financially a success for the comics industry, was in a lot of ways, a failure artistically. I can't say it was a total failure artistically, because that would dismiss things like Sandman. They seem to have completely forgotten that a lot of the things that happened in that decade lead to the financial collapse of the industry and they seem to want to go right back down the same road.

Not a Kardashian

Stephen Day wrote:This would be part of the problem that DC has right now. There seems to be a certain segment of their management that don't realize that the 90s, while financially a success for the comics industry, was in a lot of ways, a failure artistically. I can't say it was a total failure artistically, because that would dismiss things like Sandman. They seem to have completely forgotten that a lot of the things that happened in that decade lead to the financial collapse of the industry and they seem to want to go right back down the same road.

Not a Kardashian

Stephen Day wrote:This would be part of the problem that DC has right now. There seems to be a certain segment of their management that don't realize that the 90s, while financially a success for the comics industry, was in a lot of ways, a failure artistically. I can't say it was a total failure artistically, because that would dismiss things like Sandman. They seem to have completely forgotten that a lot of the things that happened in that decade lead to the financial collapse of the industry and they seem to want to go right back down the same road.

Not a Kardashian

superfictious wrote:Fans of the Big 2 buy for the character these days

I take it you've never heard of Geoff Johns, then? His Aquaman is not any better written than, say, when Peter David was writing him, but the book's numbers shot up in part because Johns was writing him. Geoff's early Justice League completely sucked, but it sold well in part because "Written by Geoff Johns!" was stamped on it.

Not a Kardashian

superfictious wrote:Fans of the Big 2 buy for the character these days

I take it you've never heard of Geoff Johns, then? His Aquaman is not any better written than, say, when Peter David was writing him, but the book's numbers shot up in part because Johns was writing him. Geoff's early Justice League completely sucked, but it sold well in part because "Written by Geoff Johns!" was stamped on it.

Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

But for the most part, characters sell. A JL, Spider-Man, Avengers, or Wolverine book (as long as it dosn't completely blow) written by a nobody will still outsell books of less popular characters done by name creators. There's a reason seemingly everything at the Big 2 is now under the Avengers, Batman, JL, and Wolverine umbrella.

Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

But for the most part, characters sell. A JL, Spider-Man, Avengers, or Wolverine book (as long as it dosn't completely blow) written by a nobody will still outsell books of less popular characters done by name creators. There's a reason seemingly everything at the Big 2 is now under the Avengers, Batman, JL, and Wolverine umbrella.